Sheet cake. Ahh, a vast field of decadent badness that can feed an army.

You’ll see them with alarming regularity this summer – at cookouts, reunions, pool parties and birthday celebrations.

Why? Why not? What could be easier than pouring batter into one pan, slapping on some icing, covering it up and toting it to your shindig?

When I talk sheet cake, I, of course, mean fudgy, chocolate cake with rich, slightly crunchy chocolate icing. Sure, I love the vanilla, banana and caramel versions that make the rounds. But my heart belongs to chocolate sheet cake, because of the world’s worst dog.

Texans have long claimed ownership of the brownie-like sheet cake I love. But, around here, it will always be known as Jessie’s cake. Jessie was half St. Bernard and half German Shepherd. I know this, because the humane society sent me to her owner’s home, where she and her litter mates were scrambling around the back yard. I met her dignified mother (the shepherd) and her rollicking dad, who belonged to the neighbors. At 22 I had decided it was time to get my first dog and I wanted a big one.

I got one. And like all new parents, I made all my mistakes with the first puppy. No rules, no kennel, no routine. That all leads up to a very bad dog. Her path of destruction got so bad that I put her in an empty room when I went to work. She ate a Jessie-size hole in the plaster wall. Once, while visiting at my parents’ house, she knocked the screen out of an upstairs window and climbed out on the lower roof of the addition – probably to see the squirrels at eye-level. She protected me without hesitation and bit a few very forgiving people. I loved that dog.

So, you probably know where this is going. One year, my sister and I made a huge chocolate sheet cake for my mother’s birthday. (My family was addled by chocolate. We adored it like it held the essence of life.) We baked it at my sister’s house, and made the mistake of taking it to Mom’s house to eat after we took her out for her birthday dinner.

Jessie couldn’t wait. She ate every bit, except for a few pecans that she spit out. The chocolate addicts did not see the humor in this bloated, burping dog, lying on the floor. Fortunately for Jessie, she was not one of those dogs who die when they eat chocolate, because, to be truthful, I don’t think anyone would have footed her vet bill after that.

She did enter the ranks of oft-repeated family lore and got her own namesake cake. And that’s not a bad memorial for a faithful, flawed companion.

Combine butter, water, shortening and cocoa in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and flour. Add buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and vanilla. Pour into pan and bake 25-30 minutes.

While the cake bakes, make the icing: Combine the butter, cocoa and buttermilk in a large saucepan over low heat and stir until the butter melts. Stir in the sugar, nuts and vanilla, keeping the pan on the heat. When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and immediately pour the warm icing over it, spreading to the edges, if necessary. Cool completely before serving.